How's your day going?

It's a busy day around here, but it's good to feel really productive, so I'm not complaining about that.  :)

I'm on my fourth load of laundry right now.  Dinner is in the slow cooker.  I have another batch of tomatoes in the dehydrator, mopped the floors and am waiting on a phone call back from the doctor's office so I can tell them what a horrible job their fill in pediatrician is doing and why we won't be back until next year when the regular pediatrician comes back.

Oh, speaking of laundry, I had to make more laundry detergent this morning.  I came home from errands yesterday (including getting Mawmaw books at the library because she likes to read Westerns but won't go to the library with us) to find that she had used up all of my laundry detergent.  The homemade detergent.  There was easily enough left for another 10 loads or more. :(  First she lied and said she had no idea what had happened to it.  Well, it was there when I left and gone when I got back and you were the only one home, so......so then she said she used it all.

I've explained, shown her, made sure there is a tablespoon in there to measure it with (and shown her) but, still, she 'didn't think it looked like enough, so I just dumped it all in there.'  The real kicker is that she used it all to wash two shirts of hers.  Yes, two shirts.  Only two shirts.  And of course she never changes the settings, so she dug two shirts out of the clothes hamper (knowing I wash daily), put them in the washer, dumped in all of my detergent and then washed it on a large load setting.  Then she ran the dryer for an hour or more to dry them.  You know, because there's no way she's going to go outside and hang them up like I do.  Or even drape them over a chair or hang them on a hanger somewhere.

Before she moved in with us (deemed unable to live alone by her doctor) she lived in low income housing in another state.  She and her late husband had no plans for retirement other than (seriously, she'll tell you this) to live with and off of their children.  Didn't work so well after he passed away and she outlived her kids.  So, when she was in low income housing she paid a teeny tiny rent amount and her utility bills were all subsidized.

Hey, as far as she was concerned, her electric bill was never over $75 per month no matter how many lights she left on and how hot she ran the heater in the winter and her water was around $25, the phone was $15, etc.

When she got bored with watching TV, she'd wash stuff.  A few things, here and there, just to give herself something to do to pass the time.

I've explained it, I've shown her our bills, I've shown her how much water you use to wash one load and how we are very carefully watching our budget and she says she understands.........and yet..............I'm out of detergent.

So, I used the new to me food processor and made some more.  I guess I'll be hiding it when I leave the house now.  I don't know what else to do about it.

I did put a paper with this batch and I'm going to mark every time I wash a load.  That way I can get a true idea of how many loads of laundry one batch will wash for us.  I'm excited to find out how many it is!

I've also been reading about the homemade dishwasher detergent.  I use the powder kind but I'm reading that homemade powder dishwasher detergent doesn't work as well if you have hard water.  We do, so I'm thinking I might try making the liquid type and try it.  I have to get some castile soap before I can make it.  Will report back and let you know how it goes!